The Best Computers

[Homestar]

Haldo,

I'm considering buying a new computer. What's the best you recommend.

I will be using it to edit videos in addition to the norm.

My price range is around $900-$2,000.

[kalan_vod]

I like computers me or someone I know makes rather that anyothers. If you have no clue how to build a pc or have a freind to do it, then I would get a dell as they are alright for the uneducated. Btw I think apple is the best with video editing and such, i'm not sure but I think that is what movie production people use?

[benryves]

For packaged PCs I like; HP. They let you rip them apart without voiding the warranty, the cases are excellent and easy to get into (unpoppable drives in swivel mounts, anyone?), rock solid and reliable.

Dell, on the other hand, tend to have terrible casing, weird parts, awful upgradability, and all the ones I have used have fried at least one hard drive each. The one in our office is on the 10th or so BIOS revision, mainly because of hard drive controller faults.

"Apples are better for graphics" - see "video editing" as well - is not so true any more. (Maybe it was true 10 years ago, certainly not any more).

Having been around film/video-production exhibitions and open days, most companies seem to use Windows-based PCs (Adobe Premiere Pro is a very nice piece of kit!) and judging by the magazines I picked up and flicked through, Windows PCs have the edge when it comes to mainstream amateur/pro video production. In Hollywood it might be different, though.

[tr1p1ea]

I only ever build them myself.

I agree with Ben that Dell sometimes have weird proprietry stuff, mainly to justify their need to send technitions out whenever there is a problem.

You should look around the online stores (like newegg) for prices on stuff. Usually its a lot cheaper that way.

[L4E_WakaMol-King]

Please do yourself a favor and don't get a Dell. 90% of the computers my friends ask me to fix are Dells. They are simply not worth it.

Apples are great computers... but they don't have much in the way of games.

I personally swear by my IBMs. Sadly, IBM just sold their PC department to some other company. I don't know if this new company will be as good as IMB... but if they are, I recommend one of those. I have never had hardware problems with an IBM ever, and they generally come with good software.

[CompWiz]

I would never buy a computer from a company. It costs so much more than building one yourself. If you'd like, I can post a list of parts with the websites you can buy them at the lowest prices, so you can make your own. Just wondering about a few things:

what graphics card do you want? 7800 GT 256 MB?

And would you like a dual core AMD? If you have a video editing program(or get one) that supports 64 bit and dual core(of course 64 bit operating system is a must as well), one of the AMD dual cores will go much faster than comparable single core or 32 bit processors.

And how much RAM would be good for video editing? 1 gig? 2? What would be a good hard drive space? would 2x160 gig in raid 0 mode be good?

Do you need a monitor? If so, you shoud go with a good CRT, as long as you have room for it. They cost a lot less. The one I am using right now is a 21 inch CRT that I bought for about $70 from surpluscomputers.com(sorry, they don't have them anymore). Any 21 inch LCD would cost about TEN TIMES THAT!

I enjoy configuring computers. If you want to make one, I can find the parts for you. Putting it together is really the easiest part. It's just a matter of plugging in plugs and screwing in components. Nothing to it.

[benryves]

I would never buy a computer from a company. It costs so much more than building one yourself.

This is not an absolute truth. It depends on what you need. For me, buying a package deal cost about £200 less than had I built it myself (I checked the prices beforehand) plus gave me the peace of mind knowing that everything would work together fine.

Of course, there are times when it's cheaper to roll your own. It depends entirely what you need, so check this out first!

For the record, basic single-core Intel chips are renowned as being better for video encoding than similar AMD processors. I hear that with a dual core setup there's not much difference in it. So, if going cheap, stick to Intel.

[dysfunction]

Wait... if going cheap, why go with Intel? Intels may be a bit better at video processing, but for the same price you could get a faster AMD, since they are, without exception, cheaper for the same amount of juice.
As for storebought computers, I'd say go HP. Dell used to (supposedly) have great tech support, but its gone downhill in recent years. HP's tech support is pretty bad, however- all outsourced to India. But since most of us are nerds, we might not need tech support as much as others.

[CompWiz]

I would never buy a computer from a company. It costs so much more than building one yourself.

This is not an absolute truth. It depends on what you need. For me, buying a package deal cost about £200 less than had I built it myself (I checked the prices beforehand) plus gave me the peace of mind knowing that everything would work together fine.

Of course, there are times when it's cheaper to roll your own. It depends entirely what you need, so check this out first!

For the record, basic single-core Intel chips are renowned as being better for video encoding than similar AMD processors. I hear that with a dual core setup there's not much difference in it. So, if going cheap, stick to Intel.

When a video editing program supports 64 bit and/or dual core, it will run significantly faster on a dual core/64 bit processor than a 32 bit single core version of the same software. With the price range he named, I could easily configure a computer for under 2000 with a powerful AMD dual core 64 bit processor.


And if you think you can get a computer cheaper from a company, chances are, you just aren't looking at the right sites to find good prices. I have never seen a dell computer or HP that was cheaper than I could make it for.

In fact, consider that a challenge. Find a computer from a company(not some one day crazy deal or something) that's a good deal. I bet I can beat it.

[blueskies]

in theory i hate dells.. but in practice i've never really had a problem with them. I've had my desktop for a few years now (2-3 i think), upgraded the vid card, added harddrives, etc. one thing I really like (i'm sure the other do this too) is they have all the default-ly installed programs downloadable from their site. I recently aquired a used dell laptop (free, 'nother story), had to format the drive, but needed all the updated bios, vid drivers, touchpad drivers.. all that stuff was downloadable from their site, really easily. I dunno.. i'd rather build one myself, but if you just need a cheap machine, go for a hp/dell/etc.

[CompWiz]

I dunno.. i'd rather build one myself, but if you just need a cheap machine, go for a hp/dell/etc.

If you just need a cheap machine, build one yourself. It costs less! Trust me, I've been researching this for years! It takes very little time and effort to build one yourself, the main time spent is just picking the parts and finding the lowest prices. I am willing to do this for you, even. If you'd just answer the questions I posted earlier, I could see what I could configure.

[Spengo]

Never, never, never buy a desktop computer from one of these places. It always costs half as much if you build your own. That's my "other."

[threefingeredguy]

For video editing, you can't beat mac. It comes with a built in movie editor that can compete with Final Cut (which is also originally for mac).

[lloydkirk1989]

Homestar: You didn't specify whether you wanted a laptop or a desktop? In any case, I would go for a (pre-configured)HP/Compaq. You get a computer with great specs and a good price. Not to mention, its being built by professionals. You don't have to worry about your computer melting like the ones from alienhead and abs. From what I've seen though, the graphics cards that come with HP laptops aren't that great, though they may be fine for what you're doing. Of course, if you're getting a desktop, you can replace it, so it doesn't matter. For an HP latop, I would recommend this one. On a side note, my favorite computer company not listed here is Acer. I made a list of some acer laptops with advanced graphical/performance capabilities for under $2,000.

[Spengo]

I also found a good company with laptops capable of great graphics for about $2k http://xtremenotebooks.com/ Go to their pentium M section. They have some really sweet notebooks there. The P4 ones are too expensive, and the amd ones lack extreme graphics power, though they are still darn good. (They are also selling a customizable ferrari 4005. Must be some special deal with acer. 'tis about $150 more expensive there than newegg though )